Huntsville City Council OKs blueprint for Councill Courts redevelopment

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama -- Huntsville officials now have a blueprint for redeveloping the former Councill Courts public housing site.

On Thursday night, the City Council voted to partner with the Huntsville Housing Authority to turn the vacant 15-acre property south of downtown into new apartments, shops and other businesses.

A three-page "Memorandum of Understanding" says the two entities will work together to redevelop Councill Courts as an "urban, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use" neighborhood.

The housing authority's volunteer board of directors approved the agreement on June 13.

It calls on the city to extend Harvard Road through the property to create a new route into downtown from Governors Drive, and to possibly build a large public parking garage for people living, working and shopping there.

Marie Bostick, acting city planning director, said preliminary discussions have centered on an 800- to 1,000-space parking deck.

She said the city would eventually like to add a greenway along Fagan Creek, which adjoins the Councill Courts site.

Meanwhile, the housing authority's role is to find buyers for the roughly $1 million-an-acre medical district land just steps from Huntsville Hospital's front door.

One future tenant is already known: National Bank of Commerce recently agreed to pay the housing authority $2.17 million for 2.27 acres at the corner of St. Clair Avenue and Gallatin Street.

Michael Lundy, the authority's executive director, said the agency is nearing a deal to sell another 5.62 acres to a developer that would create a "significant" amount of new housing plus retail stores.

The housing authority board is tentatively scheduled to meet on July 13 to consider a sales contract. "We feel real good about where we are right now" with a possible deal, Lundy said.

He declined to name the buyer or exactly what they are proposing to build.

Councill Courts was closed in early 2010 as part of the housing authority's efforts to deconcentrate poverty. The land is being sold to finance the purchase of additional public housing units across the city.

In other action Thursday, the council:

• Voted to pay Von Braun Center general contractor Vratsinas Construction an additional $54,836 for renovation work not specified in the original contract. Vratsinas has now made about $24.1 million updating the arena, concert hall and meeting halls.

• Increased the city's appropriations to Arts Council Inc. and EarlyWorks by $40,000 and $68,000, respectively, to offset losses related to the April 27 tornadoes. The twisters forced the cancellation of Panoply, the Arts Council's biggest annual event, and kept school groups away from the EarlyWorks museum complex during the busiest time of the year for field trips. EarlyWorks Executive Director Bart Williams said the museums lost as much as $100,000 during the extended power outage. Getting extra money from the city "means I won't have to lay anyone off or furlough anyone," Williams said Thursday.